Chapter 12
After the phone call, Jiang Heng seemed even more listless.
He hadn’t been feeling well, but the joy of seeing Lu Yichuan had made him ignore his physical discomfort.
The doctor and assistant placed him on a soft blanket, their backs to him as they searched for something.
Jiang Heng slowly shifted his position, glancing towards the door. The sky had darkened, and soon it began to rain again. Many people passed by, and the figure in the black jacket seemed like an illusion from his dream.
He felt an inexplicable surge of grievance.
The emotions he had suppressed all day came flooding out like the March rain.
A soft sob escaped the little cat nestled against the blanket, swallowed by the intensifying rain.
Jiang Heng didn’t know what he was so upset about. His current situation was much better than he had expected. He had not only seen Lu Yichuan but also successfully latched onto him. Everything was more perfect than he could have imagined.
Yet, he felt inexplicably sad.
The sun had been so bright this morning. He had finished a whole sausage at the university gate before finally making up his mind to enter.
Four years had passed, and Lu Yichuan had long since graduated. Jiang Heng knew the chances of seeing him were slim. He thought he would just find the lake Lu Yichuan had told him about, lie down in some bushes, and wait to die.
But his good luck today seemed to have been used up on the bus ride. He had just found a place to rest when he encountered the most formidable fighting cat on campus, an orange tabby, and he had inadvertently trespassed on its territory.
Jiang Heng fled in a panic, only escaping thanks to his bush-diving skills.
He hid in the bushes, not daring to breathe, watching the orange cat circle him again and again before finally giving up and leaving.
Two girls were walking towards the flower bed with cat food. Jiang Heng struggled to move through the branches, and looking up, he saw two people walking towards him through the bushes.
One of them was Lu Yichuan.
Jiang Heng froze. For a moment, he even wondered if he was dying again, otherwise why would he be seeing Lu Yichuan?
What was Lu Yichuan doing here…
The girls were talking about something while holding the cat food, but Jiang Heng didn’t hear a word. He watched as Lu Yichuan walked closer and closer, then suddenly stopped just as he was about to pass by.
The man’s sudden gaze made Jiang Heng think he had been recognized.
But no, he seemed to just be looking out of curiosity, then looked away.
Seeing him about to leave, Jiang Heng panicked. His lower body was caught in the branches, and he struggled for a while before finally managing to poke his head out.
But as soon as he did, he regretted it.
He was so dirty and smelly now, how could he face him like this?
Before Jiang Heng could compose himself, he saw the orange cat, which had left earlier, returning. As soon as it saw Jiang Heng, it charged towards him.
Jiang Heng quickly retracted his head.
But he hadn’t expected the orange cat to also dive into the bushes. Startled, Jiang Heng didn’t even know how he moved, and the next thing he knew, he had crashed into Lu Yichuan’s shoe.
Four years later, more than a week after his death, he saw Lu Yichuan again.
He looked much the same as he remembered, always clean, with a fresh, pleasant scent.
But the warmth in his eyes was gone.
At that moment, Jiang Heng felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him. His excitement sank to the bottom of his heart.
Everything had changed…
He was no longer the pampered young master of the Jiang family. He wasn’t even human anymore, just a dirty little cat that had crawled out of a ditch.
It was already kind of Lu Yichuan not to kick him away the moment he bumped into him.
But he still couldn’t bear to leave. Even seeing Lu Yichuan’s reluctance, when asked if he wanted to come along, he shamelessly clung to him.
It’s okay…
He comforted himself.
He was dying anyway. No one knew he was Jiang Heng, so even if he stayed by Lu Yichuan’s side, no one would find out.
The rain outside the hospital pattered against the windows. Jiang Heng lowered his head and sniffed, his mood as gloomy as the weather.
…
The assistant closed the door, shutting out the wind and rain. Turning around, she saw that the kitten they had just brought in had fallen asleep.
Curled up, its head resting on its paws, it looked as though it had experienced something heartbreaking before falling asleep, the fur around its eyes damp.
“It’s asleep?” The doctor glanced over. “Perfect. Let’s shave its fur while it’s sleeping.”
The rain hadn’t stopped when Lu Yichuan parked his car; it had only intensified.
The student dormitory parking lot didn’t allow cars, so he always parked under the complex next to the dormitory.
He put up the hood of his jacket and hurried back to his dormitory in the rain.
Just as he reached the door, his phone rang. Lu Yichuan took it out, glanced at it, then put it back in his pocket without answering.
After he returned and changed into dry clothes, the phone rang persistently again.
Lu Yichuan poured himself a glass of water before slowly answering the call.
“What is it?”
Jiang Zhuo said patiently, “What were you doing just now? Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Lu Yichuan took a sip of water, his tone indifferent. “It’s raining, and I didn’t have an umbrella, so I was hurrying back.” He asked, “What did you call me for?”
Jiang Zhuo said, “Xingbai told me he called you, but you didn’t answer, and you didn’t reply to his messages either. He asked me if he had offended you somehow.”
Lu Yichuan chuckled, the sound slightly grating to Jiang Zhuo’s ears. “He didn’t offend me. I’ve been busy lately and forgot to reply to his messages.”
“Lu Yichuan!” Jiang Zhuo raised his voice. “How busy can you be? So busy you don’t even have time to reply to a message or answer a call?”
Lu Yichuan put the phone on speaker and tossed it onto the table, pulling out a wet wipe to clean his hands, seemingly oblivious to the anger on the other end. “Unlike you, I don’t spend all day revolving around my younger brother.”
Jiang Zhuo took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. “It’s Xingbai’s birthday in five days. You know how much he wants you to be there…”
Lu Yichuan tossed the wipe into the trash can. “I’ve already bought his present. I’ll have someone deliver it to the Jiang residence.”
“…”
“Lu Yichuan…” Jiang Zhuo said. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I can’t do anything else.”
Lu Yichuan picked up the phone. “I’m hanging up if there’s nothing else.”
Just as his finger was about to press the end call button, Jiang Zhuo’s voice came through.
“Xingbai told me that his birthday is on Monday, so he wants to celebrate early, this weekend.” There was a hint of pleading in Jiang Zhuo’s voice. “It’s just a birthday celebration, it won’t interfere with anything. He was just discharged from the hospital a while ago, he almost didn’t make it. He’s really looking forward to this birthday.”
“Lu Yichuan, I’m begging you, okay?”
Lu Yichuan lowered his eyes.
After a long silence, he expressionlessly put a cigarette in his mouth, the flickering flame of the lighter reflecting in his eyes.
“I’ll see…”
Jiang Heng woke up and discovered… he was…bald!
He lifted his tail. No fur.
He lifted his paws. No fur.
He looked down at his body. No fur.
No fur anywhere!
Jiang Heng: “…”
A heart-wrenching meow echoed through the pet hospital at eight o’clock in the evening.
The doctor, coming in with medicine, heard the vigorous cry and raised an eyebrow. “Not bad, seems quite energetic.”
Jiang Heng lay dejectedly on the soft mat, ignoring the doctor’s teasing.
He had just taken a nap, why did they shave him?! What was the difference between a hairless cat and being naked?
He vehemently refused to admit that he hadn’t paid attention to the conversation between the doctor and Lu Yichuan before falling asleep.
The mat was on a table next to a glass surface, clearly reflecting Jiang Heng’s current state.
All his fur had been shaved, even on his head, and the doctor’s technique wasn’t very professional, leaving his skin uneven and patchy.
Jiang Heng turned his head and looked at his reflection for a while, then turned back and glared at the doctor.
“Meow!”
Even without a translation, the doctor knew he was being cursed out.
He touched his nose sheepishly. “I couldn’t help it. The glue on your fur wouldn’t come off, so I had to shave it all.”
The assistant also came over and chuckled when she saw the kitten’s indignant expression. “Is it angry? Well, Doctor, with your skills, anyone would be angry.”
The experienced assistant pulled out a cat treat, tore it open, and offered it to Jiang Heng. “Don’t be angry. It’ll grow back soon, and then you’ll be a beautiful little kitty again.”
Jiang Heng sniffed.
No cat could resist the temptation of a cat treat. None!
He took a big bite.
The assistant took the opportunity to pick him up.
The doctor, holding a syringe, said, “Let’s give it a shot of the special medicine first. We’ll do a thorough examination tomorrow, but judging by its symptoms, it’s almost certainly FIP. This injection is quite painful, hold it tight.”
Jiang Heng felt the arms holding him tighten, his limbs restrained, unable to move.
He realized he was about to get a shot.
Jiang Heng’s scalp tingled, but he obediently remained still. He was still young, his awareness of mortality not yet fully developed. If there was a chance to live, he didn’t want to die just like that.
But the moment the needle went in, he couldn’t help but cry out in pain, clenching his teeth to stop himself from struggling in the assistant’s arms. He didn’t even notice when the cat treat fell out of his mouth.
It hurt so much; he hadn’t expected an injection to be so painful.
But even with his mind blanked by pain, Jiang Heng kept his claws retracted and didn’t scratch the assistant.
Unbelievably well-behaved.
After what felt like an eternity, Jiang Heng felt himself being placed back on the soft mat. The assistant’s warm hand gently stroked him. “There, there, it’s over. Good kitty!”
Having worked at the pet hospital for a long time, the staff treated the cats and dogs like children. No one found it strange to talk to a cat like this.
It took a while for Jiang Heng to recover. He opened his mouth and took another bite of the cat treat the assistant offered.
One injection for one cat treat; he felt cheated.
He mentally added another mark against Lu Yichuan.
